Brassiere



March 24, 1953 s, KAUFMAN 2,632,168

BRASSIERE Filed Feb. '7, 1951 I INVENTOR. Soroh Kaufman Bi /41 4a,

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 24, 1953 UNH'ED STATES FATE??? @EHCE 2,632,168 BRASSIERE Sarah Kaufman, New York, N. Y.

Application February 7, 1951, Serial No. 209,853

1 Claim.

This invention relates to brassieres and more particularly, to brassires of the type having a sling member located below the breast-receiving cups or pockets for aiding the support and separation of the breasts.

Brassieres of the type having breast supporting sling members are known in the prior art as disclosed in the patents to Hunau, No. 2,367,353, Rose No. 1,886,742, and Moran No. 2,044,623.

The present invention is directed to an improved form of brassiere of this type, the improvement residing in the novel manner of mounting and supporting the sling member relative to the breast-receiving cups or pockets.

More particularly, the two sections of the sling member ar connected by means of an elastic member of special form whereby the sling sections are yieldingly movable in a lateral direction toward and away from each other so as to conform to the particular extent of separation of the breasts of the individual wearers.

Another novel feature of the present invention resides in the novel manner of suspending the sling member so that the sections thereof are yieldably movable in a vertical direction. This enables the height of the multisection sling member to be automatically adjusted in accordance with the requirements of different wearers who may have various types of breasts of either high, low or average type.

Still another important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an outer fabric reinforcement for the sling sections, to which reinforcement stresses are imposed from both the cups and said sling section,

One of the advantages flowing from this manner of stress distribution is that both the cups and the sling section may be formed of sheer transparent material so as to provide for novel decorative effects without the sacrifice of strength, coolness and durability of the structure.

Other advantageous features of the present invention are inherent in the structure as claimed and disclosed and will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the brassire shown in position on a torso indicated in dashed lines, parts of the outer fabric reinforcement layer of the left-hand breast pocket being broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed perspective view showing the manner of securing the supporting bands of the sling sections to the buckles attached to the forward ends of the shoulder straps; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the brassiere com prises an outer reinforcement fabric layer it! formed with a pair of breast-receiving cups or pockets ii, l2. An inner fabric layer i3 of fabric ,material which is also formed with a pair of breast-receiving pockets corresponding to pocketsv ii, i2 is in superimposed relation to and behind the outer layer it, the outer and inner layers i3 being of substantially identical shape and secured together by suitable stitching alon their lower egges i i, upper edges i5 and outer lateral edges i The upper edges i5 may be provided with decorative lace or binding tape and the outer lateral edges it may be provided with a conventional vertical reinforcing stay if desired. The layers i0, is may each be formed of two segments, one for the left side and one for the right side, joined together by a vertical line of stitching H at the center of the brassiere. Suitable portions I8 for encircling the side and back of the torso are secured to the sections ill, [3 at their outer lateral edges 15. The side and back encircling portions i8 being of any suitable construction, the details of which form no part of the present invention.

A portion of the breast-receiving pocket 12 of the outer layer it is broken away in Fig. 1 so as to show therebeneath the left-hand sling section Hi, there being a similar sling section 20 at the right-hand portion of the brassiere. Each of the sling sections I9, 20 is provided with an upper arcuate marginal edge as at 21 and an inner lateral edge 22 which is inclined upwardly and outwardly.

The two adjacent inner lateral edges 22 of the sling sections [9, 20 are connected by an elastic member 2i in the form of a sheet of elastic fabric or other material. Elastic member 2| is provided with upwardly-outwardly inclined edges 23 secured to the inner lateral edges 22 of the sling sections i9, 20 and with upwardly-inwardly inclined edges 24, the latter preferably being bordered by elastic tape. A horizontal edge 25 extends between the upper ends of the upwardly-inwardly inclined edges 24.

A pair of shoulder straps 26, 21 are secured at their rear ends (not shown) to the back encircling portions H3 in any suitable manner. The forward ends 26', 21' of the shoulder straps 26, 2? are provided with buckles 28, 29 attached thereto in the following manner. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each of the buckles 28, 29 is provided with five horizontally extending members 30, 3!, 32, 33 and 34 forming slots or openings therebetween. The forward end 21' of the shoulder strap 21 extends forwardly between members 34, 33 and is looped around member 32, thereby maintaining the buckle 29 attached to the forward end 2'! of the shoulder strap 21. The upper ,vertex portions 13' of the inner layer l3 are each securely attached to a respective one of the buckles 28, 29 by means of straps 35 looped around the member 3! and secured to the vertex portions I3 by means of stitching at 36.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the upper vertex portions ID of the outer layer I are cut away as at 31 so as to provide a slot or opening through which the supporting bands 38 may project outwardly and upwardl from between the outer layer and the inner layer Each of the sup-porting bands 38 is provided W a first end 38 secured to an outer portion of a respective one of the sling sections [9, and a second end 38" secured to the junction of the horizontaledge and'an upwardly-inwardly inclined edge 24 of the elastic member ii. The intermediate portion of each of the supporting bands 38 extends slidably through the slot formed by the horizontal members 39, 31' of each of the buckles 28, 29. That is, the intermediate portionof each of the supporting bands 38 is looped around the horizontal member 3a and is slidable thereover so as to provide for relative raising and lowering of the ends 38 and 38".

Suitable elastic gussets as at 39 may be located between the outer lateral edges l6 and the side and back encircling portions it at the lower ed thereof. Darts or seams may be provided on the breast pockets of the layers l9, is so as to impart a cup shape to the pockets.

When the brassiere is in position on the torso of the wearer, as shown in Fig. 1, the shoulder straps 25, 2! will tend to pull upwardly on the supporting bands 33, the -ends 38" of the latter in turn exerting tension on the elastic member 2! to which is connected the sling sections I9, 29. Since the edges 24 of elastic member 2! are yieldable and the elastic member 21 is resilient so as to be stretchable in a vertical direction, it will be seen. that the inner lateral edges 22 of the sling sections 19, 29 are yieldably movable in a vertical direction with respect to the lower end 38" of the supporting bands 38. Furthermore, since the elastic member 2| is also resilient or stretchable in a horizontal direction, it will be seen that the sling sections I9, 20 are yieldabl movable in a lateral direction toward and away from each other.

Although the upwardly-outwardly inclined edges 23 and the upper horizontal edge 25 of the elastic member 2! are comparatively rigid and non-elastic, the upward-inward inclination of the edges 24 and their elastic nature enable the elastic member 2| to be stretched both laterally-outwardly in opposite directions and also verticallydownwardly with respect to the lower ends 38 of the supporting bands 33.

It will be noted that a portion of the load of supporting and separating the breasts, and hence the stress induced thereby, is taken up by both the outer layer It and inner layer I 3 and also the sling sections 19, 20. Since only a portion of the load is assumed by the outer layer 19, the stresses induced therein are relatively small and hence the outer layer [0 may be formed of an extremely sheer transparent material without sacrificing the strength and durability of the brassiere structure as a whole. The same may be said for the inner fabric layer 13, which may also be formed of a sheer flexible material if so desired. This ability to form either or both of the layers l0, [3 of various types of material, irrespective of the comparative weakness and lack of durability of the material, is highly advantageous in that it e ables many decorative effects to be obtained without loss of strength or durability of the brassire structure. For instance, the outer layer 10 may be made of sheer material that is almost transparent and a design formed on either the slin sections I9, 29 or the inner layer l3, or both, then being Visible through the outer layer ID with a pleasing diffused appearance.

It is to be understood that th specific embodiment of the invention shown in he drawin and described in the specification is intended to be merely illustrative of one of many forms which the invention may take in practice and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, the latter being delineated in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A brassiere comprising an inner fabric layer having a pair of breast-receiving pockets, an outer fabric layer having a pair of breast-receiving pockets lying in superimposed relation to the pockets of said inner layer, said layers being secured to each other along their respective top, bottom and outer vertical lateral edges, a pair of sling sections each positioned in the lower portion of the breast pockets between said fabric layers, each of saidsling sections having an outer vertical lateral edge secured to said outer vertical lateral edges of said inner and outer layers, a bottom edge secured to said bottom edges of said layers and having an outwardly obliquely disposed inner edge, elastic fabric means connecting the outwardly obliquely disposed inner edges of both of said sling sections, body encircling fabric portions extending outwardly and rearwardly from said outer lateral edges, a pair of shoulder straps having rear ends secured to said body encircling portions, supporting bands secured to said sling sections and extending upwardly therefrom between said layers, said elastic fabric means being five sided and having a V-shaped bottom, eac edge of which is secured to an outwardly obliquely disposed inner edge of a respective sling section, and further having upwardly and inwardly curvatured edges contiguous with the edges of the V- shaped bottom, and a horizontal edge extending between the upper ends of the said inward y curvatured edges, said upwardly and inwardly curvatured edges having elastic tape therealong, said horizontal edge being secured to the inner ends of said supporting bands whereby said slin sections are yieldably movable in a lateral direction toward and away from each other as well as in a Vertical direction, and buckle means for adjustably securing the uppermost portions of said supporting bands to the forward ends of said shoulder straps.

SARAH KAUFMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,149,319 Rubinstein Mar. 7, 1937 2,386,530 Witkower Oct. 9, 1945 2,454,151 Glick Nov. 16, 1948 2,470,847 Gluckin May 24, 1949 2,478,103 Hunau Aug. 2, 1949 

